


comfort

by soundofez



Series: what you thought you need [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff, sweet enough to melt your teeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2012-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-22 02:44:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/604943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soundofez/pseuds/soundofez
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He sees her before she does him, and the moment he does he reads from the set of her face her distress. No one else would notice: her face in public is always blank and aloof. He knows better, though, can sense with the perception of an overprotective boyfriend just how tense she is under that cold mask.</p>
            </blockquote>





	comfort

He sees her before she does him, and the moment he does he reads from the set of her face her distress. No one else would notice: her face in public is always blank and aloof. He knows better, though, can sense with the perception of a hyperprotective boyfriend just how tense she is under that cold mask.

He can tell exactly when she spots him, because she swerves suddenly and tacks through the flow of the crowd toward him. Once she reaches him, she tucks herself under his arm moodily, like a sparrow snuggling down onto a cold branch seeking refuge from the world, though she smiles and teases enough to pass the action as playfulness. He teases right back, stroking her hair comfortingly, and she allows him to carry on his conversation with his classmate concerning their project. Said classmate breaks from their conversation and attempts to engage her eagerly— _flirting,_ he thinks savagely, and then tamps it down, because the last time he let his jealousy get away from him did not end well. _He is only being friendly,_ he tells himself firmly, and then adds hollowly, _and anyway she has me._ The self-reassurance is empty: he is always acutely aware of his inadequacy, but he does feel smug when she offers only short, dismissive responses to the other boy's advances.

"I'll just leave you two lovebirds alone," the classmate finally tells them slyly, as though he thinks they're in that early stage of denial and give him the excuse to pounce, but he leaves. He can't tell if he is imagining the envy in the boy's face as he departs, but it infuriates him nonetheless.

He looks down at her, half for an explanation, half for a distraction. She obliges, her brows tilting helplessly so that he finds himself holding her closer to hopefully comfort her. She responds in kind, tugging them as much out of crowd-traffic as she can manage, and then winding her arms around his waist, tucking her head just under his chin.

"Have you plans?" she asks flatly over the noise of the crowd, and her tone is so at odds with the pleading expression on her face that it catches him off guard, even though he knows that's just how she is. "I wish to be alone."

Shakespeare again, he notes, and teases lightly, "No plans, but I guess if you want to be alone I could fetch some food." He puts his chin on her head and rocks her minutely in spite of his words, and she can feel his throat rumbling against her nose as he speaks.

He's barely finished his sentence and she is pouting, whining doggishly in protest. Her hold around him tightens, and his chin is dislodged when she shakes her head and then presses her cheek against the hollow at the base of his neck so that he can feel her breath flutter against his collar. "Nnnn, not that, I wish to be alone _with you_ ," she clarifies extraneously. Her voice is caught between upset and amused, which worries him, because she so rarely lets anything show in private, much less in public. "Take me with you?"

"What, so we can go to a land far, far away?"

"Yes! Please, oh please?" Her tone is playful now, deliberately childish and lovably eager. The agitation is gone now, at least from her voice, and this pleases him enough that he laughs and swings her around so that she is safely under his arm again. "Of course."

**Author's Note:**

> reviews and/or prompts welcome.  
> last edited [2013 03 10 16:40].


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